Another year has passed of the daily routine of training and learning. Cassius continues to grow stronger. He has begun to utilize recovery magic to make his muscular training more efficient. As well as gotten more precise with magic, memorizing the sensation of various spells. Allowing him to finally cast earth magic efficiently. Not as good as his fire or water magic, but still on a decent level. Along with the previous changes, his magic capacity continues to grow rapidly.

On his 6th birthday, there were no celebrations. They don’t do that in this world. They have religious celebrations related to age, but those come about later in life.

Marcus returned from one of his many expeditions today. Good for you Marcus! It’s a good thing to be there for your son’s birthday. Speaking of which I’ve come to feel some sort of kinship with Marcus as you can see. Even though we’re total opposites. But that’s just how fatherhood is.

Well, not that I’m Cassius’ dad or anything.

There was something different this time around. Marcus returned with a girl about Cassius’ age behind him. She had white hair and red eyes. She was a bit taller than Cassius, so maybe a little older too? She hid behind a woman dressed like a servant. Servants in this world don’t dress as I imagined maids do, but thinking back on it that was a more medieval European style of dress. The servant woman wore a beat-up long-sleeve tunic, and the little girl wore a long-sleeved tunic as well, but hers appeared expensive.

“This is Octavia, she is the fiancé I and her father arranged for Cassius. Now then, you two will introduce yourselves.”

Huh?

What!? Arranged marriage?

That is unthinkable! To decide such a thing for them at such a young age? It is ridiculous! What are you thinking Marcus?

Wait, is this normal in this world? I know in older periods arranged marriages were more common, even stuff like this happened, but still…

I thought Marcus knew better than to do some shit like this.

“It is nice to meet you, my lady, I am Cassius Tullius Scipio. I am the second son of Marcus Tullius Scipio and Claudia Scipio. It is an honor to be graced with your Presence.”

He then bowed and outstretched his hand for a handshake. She did not reach back, just hid behind the maid. I understand, being dragged away from your family and told you are going to marry some stranger. That would be awful and terrifying. Frankly raising a child to be a bride of a specific man is grooming.

But that is the reality of this world, isn’t it? What matters to me isn’t this random kid, but how Cassius responds to it. He is a pretty outgoing kid, I think he can definitely help her if needed.

“Well, handshakes and stuff like that don’t matter anyway. I’m glad to meet you! Come on in I’ll show you around the house!”

It seems Cassius took the lead in this scenario, I was hoping he would. The servant girl grabbed the child’s hand and they followed Cassius as he walked around the house telling them what each room was.

After finding out what room the girl would be staying in. Cassius even helped move her items into there. All the while Octavia hid behind the maid girl. Despite this Cassius did not try to force anything. However in the end she did say something. In a timid voice, she let out the words.

“My name is Octavia Decimus.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Octavia! I don’t really know about this engagement business, but let’s be friends!”

Now I see. The reason he is being so outgoing is because he never met someone his age before. He doesn’t care about the engagement; he just wants friends.

Friends huh. I say I never had any, but that is technically a lie. I made friends when I was a kid but at the start of high school…

Damnit! Now is not the time to think about that!

Regardless, it seems that Cassius can be trusted with this situation. He really is a good kid after all huh?

Octavia was left in her room with the maid and Cassius went to bed. It was pretty late when they arrived after all. However there was something I wanted to do before Cassius fell asleep.

I walked to the edge of the range holding me near Cassius and listened. From this distance, I could hear Marcus and Claudia talking.

“Marcus, this is unacceptable. If it were just an arranged marriage I’d be fine with it. I dislike them, but I can live with it… This on the other hand.”

“They are orders from the king, Claudia. Besides, this is probably for the best in her case.”

“What do you mean the king is behind this? And the best for her?”

So, Claudia didn’t know about this. That makes sense, she has very strong morals. I had wondered why she would go along with this.

“The king wishes to obtain deeper control over the Decimus family, therefore we are to add their daughter to our family and keep her as a hostage so the family stays in line. The reason this is best for her is because that girl is destined to be a political tool. She is the only girl born to a family of fertility issues, not only that but a family of traitors as well.”

“A family of traitors?”

“They joined the revolt against the previous king that occurred during the war, and while doing so opened the mountain pass they controlled in the god reaching mountains. That family is not only one which turned against the crown in the past, but control one of the most strategic points in the kingdom.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“So, no matter what happens that girl will be caught up in the disastrous political struggle she was born into?”

“That is right.”

How is that family even able to remain nobles? Well, there is probably an explanation for it. He’s basically saying the outcome is the same no matter what we do, at least we can make it comfortable. Well, not the best justification, but at least the justification exists. That will soothe Claudia.

…

The next morning, we saw the beginning of Octavia’s time in the house. She essentially took the role of personal aid to Cassius. She woke him up, served him breakfast, and looked after him during the sword training.

When the time to learn reading and writing came, Claudia invited her into the lessons as a student. I said invited, but she didn’t take no for an answer. Thus, Octavia joined in reading and writing lessons. She was behind Cassius in this subject but picked up pretty quickly.

Then magic practice came about. Claudia got Octavia started by showing her how to meditate and get a feeling for the mana within one's body. She has recently given Cassius more and more flexibility to learn to practice magic in his own way. Though she always provides guidance and oversees the testing of new spells.

When they finished with magic practice it was already dinnertime. Octavia joined the family for dinner and then Cassius was given free time. They eat dinner at around 6pm from my guess, leaving only a couple hours of time to himself. He chose to spend this time with another person.

“Octavia let’s go play in the yard!”

“…”

“It’s fine if you don’t want to.”

“…ok”

They went to play together. They played tag for 30 minutes; it wasn’t fair at all. Cassius is at peak physical condition for someone his age, has magic and learned defensive maneuvering from a master swordsman.

Despite this, Octavia seemed to be having fun. She even let out laughs, which is a step up from complete silence. When Octavia was finally completely worn out, Julius joined in and proceeded to beat Cassius a bunch. It seems Cassius started acting high and mighty after winning so much which pissed off Julius.

Cassius had a bath alongside Julius and his Father which was silent. Then returned to his bedroom for much-needed rest. Before he fell asleep I heard something from the living room.

“Julius, you failed another test your mother prepared I heard.”

“I’m sorry father, but I am not cut out for this stuff.”

“You think you can get into the academy in a couple of years if you fail something like this? You can’t, and you could solve it if you put in the effort.”

“I told you father I can’t! I am not cut out for sitting still with stuff like this. I want to be a soldier like you!”

“You are my firstborn Julius, my heir. If you are going to be the lord of this territory someday you must be knowledgeable, and you must go to the academy.”

“You didn’t! Besides… I don’t want to run this territory.”

“What did you say?”

“I don’t want to be the lord of the Scipio territory. Such a role is not suited for someone like me. Cassius is more deserving.”

“You feel inferior to your brother?”

“I don’t feel, I know I am. I don’t hate being a noble you know. But someone amazing like Cassius would be a far better lord than I am.”

“Are you jealous of him? If you aren’t a lord, what will you do?”

“I’m not jealous, frankly, I like myself the way I am. But I don’t want the future me to be a failure and hated noble. I will lead Cassius’ guard and be a warrior of the region.”

“You thought this through huh.”

“That’s right, I don’t want to be a noble. But I want to be with him still as his brother and ally. Father, you will allow this won’t you?”

“I will talk with your mother.”

“Thank you very much, father!”

Before he left, Julius said one more thing.

“By the way father, I don’t approve of Octavia as his fiancé. You will have Cassius marry the daughter of a treacherous coward?”

“She is a good kid.”

“Like that family could produce a ‘good kid.’”

He left after that. Before I could put too much thought into it, Cassius fell asleep.

…

It was breakfast, the next morning. Marcus looked tired, with bags under his eyes. I know why, Claudia on the other hand looked perfectly normal. Maybe she slept just fine unlike Marcus.

“I have an announcement.”

Julius looked serious, Cassius had no idea what was going on, nor did Octavia, Claudia looked the same as always, and Marcus was serious.

“It has been decided Cassius will inherit the title of lord. Julius will be the captain of the region’s knights.”

Everyone reacted well to this news. Except for one person. Cassius shouted,

“But Julius is the firstborn! What is going on father?”

“Julius stepped down and handed this title to you. Be grateful.”

“But… but…”

The look Julius gave calmed him down. With the knowledge that this is what he wanted. The outburst would subside. Cassius resigned to this fate. He seemed to not have put any thought at all into what being a noble would mean. Always assumed he would marry into a family or create some branch family. This is what happened to people in his position he heard.

“I understand, I will live up to your expectations.”

With that out of the way, breakfast went on like normal. There was a strange atmosphere, but everyone acted out the same.

The lessons went the same as yesterday as well. Dinner as well. When dinner was finished, Cassius walked away on his own. Octavia followed behind him.

“Y-you are going to be a lord… congratulations.”

“Thanks… honestly I don’t know how to feel about it. I want to be like my father, but I feel like I am stealing from my brother. I don’t want him to hate me.”

“He won’t hate you, Cassius. He wanted this right?”

“Yeah… but still.”

Octavia seems to have run out of ways to console him. I get the pain, my mom complained about work to me once and I was just as lost as you are young lady. I feel you.

They sat in silence for the rest of the day. Though neither of them minded, Cassius was lost in thought, and Octavia was used to silence.

Then they went to bed for the night.

…

Many days passed like the previous two, Julius at the age of 14 gave up on academic pursuits in favor of truly mastering the blade. Casius at the age of 6 continued to practice the blade, and pursued magic and academics alongside Octavia.

Octavia slowly opened up to Cassius as a friend. She was expected to fulfill some roles in the house, like waking up Cassius and fetching what was necessary while he focused on swordsmanship. But her servant often fulfilled these duties in her place. They seemed to provide her with simple roles revolving around Cassius to get them used to each other, but that became unnecessary when they started getting along as friends.

The servant’s name I learned was Theophania. She was roughly 35 years old with brown hair. She was tall, outgoing, and doted on Octavia often. That was all I could really learn about her because she stayed silent around everyone except Octavia.

Marcus was out of the home for weeks to months on end often. When he was home he would instruct his children in swordsmanship. When he wasn’t it was Brennos who taught them.

Claudia was effectively managing their territory, often meeting with hired aids and community leaders to discuss the policies she enacted. She didn’t mind deciding on policy or paperwork, but she hated having to talk to a bunch of different people. She wasn’t lazy, but she was someone who enjoyed alone time. Though she would gladly forsake alone time to be with her sons.

When the days came to an end, Cassius and Octavia would play together in the yard. Whatever game they could think of they played. Cassius always won the games, but Octavia was by no means incompetent. To be completely honest, I sometimes help him win… I know that’s bad, but I don’t want to see him lose… ok I should stop interfering I know.

With that trend, another year passed, and Cassius reached the age of seven.